Killers who kidnapped and tortured jeweller in botched robbery jailed for life

Ramniklal Jogiya was abducted and killed near his home in Leicestershire (PA Images)

Two men have been jailed for life for the murder of a 74-year-old jeweller, who they kidnapped and tortured in a botched robbery attempt.

Charles Mcauley and Thomas Jervis abducted Ramniklal Jogiya on his way home from work near his home in Stoughton, Leicestershire on 24 January this year, bundling him into a van.

They brutally beat the father of three, forcing him to hand over the keys to his shop and to tell them the alarm code and safe combination. They then abandoned Mr Jogiya in a country lane.

Jervis was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years, while Mcauley was sentenced to custody for life with a minimum of 30 years.

Charles Frances Mcauley and Thomas Jervis were found guilty of murder (Leicestershire Police)

Mr Jogiya died as a result of the beating, and his body was found by a couple driving past the field the following day.

His injuries were so severe that one of his biceps was ripped away from the bone, six of his ribs on the left side were broken, and he had multiple injuries to his hands and fingers.

After leaving Mr Jogiya to die, Jervis returned to the jewellery shop wearing a burqa and pulling a shopping trolley.

CCTV shows him deactivating the shop alarm and going to the back of the shop where the safe was located.

However the safe was protected by a 12-hour time lock, and Jervis was unable to access the contents and left empty handed.

Mcauley, 20, and Jervis, 24, denied the killing but were both convicted on the grounds of joint enterprise.

Fellow attacker Callan Reeve, 20, was convicted of manslaughter.

A fourth defendant, Javon Roach, 30, was acquitted of kidnap, robbery and murder.

Leicester Police’s DCI David Swift-Rollinson said: “Rarely have I investigated a crime so wicked and ruthless. The depravity, inhumanity and utter contempt they showed for their victim has caused untold anguish for his family and stunned the whole community.

“The only possible comfort left for the family is that the people responsible for this terrible crime will now be locked up for a very long time.”